Stevens Point, Wis. -- The UW-Whitewater football team registered over 500 yards of total offense en route to a 45-14 win at UW-Stevens Point Saturday afternoon.
The Warhawk offense averaged 6.5 yards per play with 349 passing yards and 177 yards in the ground game. The UWW defense stifled the run game allowing just 56 rushing yards for the Pointers in the contest.
Defense turned to offense early. Following a punt in the Warhawks' opening drive,
Deven Magli (Deforest, Wis./Deforest) cut the UWSP drive short by jumping a passing lane for an interception at the UWW 31. Six plays later UW-Whitewater found the endzone as
Justin Klinkner (Two Rivers, Wis./Two Rivers) connected with
Blake Haggerty (Castle Rock, Colo./Castle View) on a 20-yard scoring pass.
Seth Adams' (Utica, Ill./La Salle-Peru) extra point gave the Warhawks a 7-0 advantage.
That score quickly doubled as the offense came right back out following a great special teams play. On the ensuing kickoff,
Efrein Ramirez (Minooka, Ill./Minooka) forced a fumble and
Jace Kranig (Crystal Lake, Ill./Prairie Ridge) recovered at the UWSP 14. On the first play of the drive,
Tyler Vasey (Crystal Lake, Ill/Prairie Ridge) took the ball in the backfield straight up the middle for a 14-yard touchdown run. Adams converted again for a 14-0 lead.
The second quarter saw Adams drill a 23-yard field goal and a Klinkner rushing touchdown from one yard out as the Warhawks took a 24-0 lead into halftime.
On the other side of the break, the UWW defense forced a three-and-out and the Warhawk offense capitalized.
Patrick Lippe (Port Washington, Wis./Port Washington) hauled in a Klinkner near the goal line for the 20-yard score. The point after extended the gap to 31-0.
The Pointers got on the board after capitalizing on a turnover. UW-Stevens Point scored on a 30-yard touchdown pass for the final score of the third quarter.
Both teams hit paydirt in the fourth -- the Warhawks on a
Brian Stanton (Plainfield, Ill./Plainfield South) 14-yard run and a 29-yard
Cole Berghorn (Walworth, Wis./Badger) TD run while Pointers used a two-yard pass to tally their second touchdown of the day.
Klinkner was 29-37 for 336 yards and a pair of passing touchdowns. He added another with his feet in the game. Vasey was the top target hauling in seven catches for 105 yards.
Defensively,
Ethan Gallagher (Homer Glen, Ill./Lockport Township) paced the Warhawks with eight tackles.
Noah Moris (Union Grove, Wis./Union Grove) added three tackles, a sack and a quarterback hurry.
UW-Whitewater returns to Perkins Stadium for a game under the lights next week. The Warhawks will host UW-Stout Friday night at The Perk with kickoff set for 7 PM.
